Friends Through Time and Space
by grumpyjenn
Summary: Linking Nightmares & Dreamscapes with Rooms/Bridges/Shut Up. Jack Harkness/OFC, Eleven/River.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Several of my online fic friends (special thanks to ScrewedRiver) have asked for more stories with Evie, an original character I created as a friend to River Song during her time at Luna University, and as a lover of the man who will eventually be Jack Harkness (_Nightmares and Dreamscapes_). A few have also asked for more friendship stories - sexytimes or not - with some combination of Eleven / River / Jack / TARDIS (special thanks to BeverlyMaldoran) and I love to write those (_Rooms in Time and Space_, _Bridges_, and _Shut Up_; aka the _Contact _series).

And, as you know, more stories about Jack Harkness and the dark behind the flirting are always on the wish lists (special thanks to SnowyAshes) of, well, everyone with a pulse. Probably some people without one; Jack's not picky.

Enjoy.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Captain Jack Harkness knew that the TARDIS - Sexy Thing - liked him again. And he was fairly sure her pilot did too, given that the last time they'd seen each other he'd been in bed with the Doctor and his wife. The mostly-human wife, not the TARDIS herself. He allowed himself to think about the possibility of _that _for a moment, then shook his head; it would be... logistically difficult, at least it would if it were more than just the two of them, or if it was _physical._.. But even though he knew the TARDIS liked him again, he was a little surprised to see her there on the street corner in downtown Cardiff, especially as the Doctor was nowhere to be seen.

Jack crossed the busy street and knocked once on the police box door, whereupon it opened of its own accord. _Uh-oh_, he thought; _she doesn't usually do that on her own_. He poked his head in. "Doctor?" he called, "River?" No answer. "Old Girl, where are they?" he asked, addressing the TARDIS. He felt the headache he got when she talked to him directly, along with a wash of affection and a picture of a... a prison? No, a _dungeon_, a proper Earth dungeon, circa...fourteenth century? _That can't be good._ He climbed in and sat in the Doctor's jump seat. "Okay, Sexy Thing and Jack to the rescue, can you take me to them?" He felt the wash of emotion again, this time of mingled anxiety and agreement, and then the whooshing sound began and she shook as she flung them into the void between times.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"River, can you hear me? River!" The Doctor's whisper was frantic as he urgently tried to wake his wife from her catatonic state. He'd gotten a note from her on his psychic paper, and all it had said was "I'm a child crying alone in the night," plus the coordinates for a fourteenth century keep just north of London. When he had arrived in the TARDIS River was nowhere to be seen, but the sound of arguing voices came from the guardhouse.

And what they had to say was not good. _Very very not good_, he thought, as he heard a loud voice say, "I say she's possessed by a demon! Y'don't see no normal girl covered in marks like that, I say they're the Devil's marks!" and then a calming voice but he couldn't make out the words, and the first voice demanding that they burn the witch.

The Doctor swore extensively under his breath in Gallifreyan when he heard River's uncharacteristically hysterical voice pleading with the men to just _listen, because there are aliens about and they're controlling you, all of you! _When River's voice was cut off by the meaty sound of someone's mailed fist striking her face, the Doctor lost control. _How dare they!_ He didn't bother with the sonic; it looked like the door was wooden anyway, latch and all, and just backed up a few steps and _charged_. The wooden door gave way and the Doctor fell in a heap at River's feet as someone clubbed him on the head from behind.

When he awoke, it was dark. Not night-dark, and his time sense suggested it was still daytime, but gloom-dark, and he shook his head to clear it, sparking a dreadful headache. He groaned and dropped his head into his hands, trying to remember what had happened. He'd gotten a message from... _River! _His face came up out of his hands and he ignored the headache as he looked wildly around the tiny space for her._ River, my River, where are you? _There she was, curled up in a corner just inches away and she was asle- no, she was _unconscious_. "River, can you hear me? River!"

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

When the TARDIS bumped to a stop, Jack stood up and took a deep breath. "Well, Old Girl," he said, "Off to the rescue. Any ideas?" He felt a wave of trust that he could handle it and a vague impression of the first Doctor he had met - the Ninth - wearing a jumper and a leather jacket in the nineteenth century. "Oh, good one, Sexy," Jack said, patting her console fondly and heading off to find the wardrobe. When he emerged, in full doublet, hose, and all the accoutrements of a wealthy late-fourteenth-century townsman, he swore he heard a snicker come from the console. "Stop it," he said with mock severity, "You can help me with the language, but I've got to look the part." He put his hood up to hide his short hair and took another deep breath before exiting the TARDIS.

Jack emerged at the edge of a forest just outside a keep or a fort of some kind. _Dungeon's probably under there,_ he thought, sighing. _Let's go see what's what. _He headed toward what looked like a guard post, and rolled his eyes when a belligerent-looking man in chain armor stepped out of it and stood, legs spread and hands on hips. "Ho there!" shouted the man as Jack approached, "What business d'you have here?"

Jack affected a bored look. "I've come to collect two escaped patients of mine, my good man," he said not bothering to use the appropriate version of English; he knew that Sexy Thing would take care of any translation issues. "I represent Bethlem Royal Hospital." The man stuttered apologies about how he _didn't know and how could he possibly have known, right this way sir, I'll take you to them, let me just get the guard captain_, and Jack let the man witter on as he scoped the place. It was a good thing that Bedlam was already a name to conjure with, or Jack could've been in trouble; this place was _foul_. He shuddered to think what they'd done with the Doctor and River, and regretted taking another deep breath (_ugh, the smell!_) as the voluble guard opened the door to the guard house and waved "milord doctor from Bedlam" through it.

Jack entered the room and introduced himself by the title the guardsman had bestowed upon him, then said, as if it were a very minor point, "I understand that two of my patients escaped their transport to Bethlem Royal Hospital and came here to your keep. I've a specially locked carriage waiting at the edge of the woods, if you would be so kind as to bring them here?" He looked inquiringly at the man who must be the guard captain. The captain snapped his fingers - his gauntlets were sitting on a table next to him - and a smaller, younger man dashed out a doorway in the back of the room.

"You should keep better control of your patients, milord doctor," the captain said mildly, "I'm afraid there was some... damage to your female patient, as my men feared she was marked by the Beast." He raised one eyebrow as Jack winced in spite of himself; who knew what the people of this time considered "damage"? "You are concerned for the wench?" the man continued, "Even a madwoman? Don't be; I wouldn't let my men do any permanent damage, and perhaps the blow to the head has cured her madness." He laughed, clearly taking Jack's reaction as that of a soft townsman, rather than a "real man". The captain clapped Jack on the back in a friendly manner, and Jack allowed his knees to buckle slightly in an effort to encourage the assumption, and then winced again as the Doctor staggered through the door, carrying an unconscious River Song, who was wearing clothing appropriate to the era. He hoped the Doctor would forgive him for what he was about to do.

"All right," he said impatiently, "Give her here. And don't run off again," he hurried on as the Doctor opened his mouth to protest. He took River's limp form from the Time Lord, squeezing his hand gently during the transfer, and breathed a sigh of relief as the Doctor's mouth snapped shut. He looked around. "Can I expect you to come quietly with me to the special carriage, uh, Mister Chronos?" The Doctor looked incredulous, but managed a nod. Jack almost laughed at the expression on the Doctor's face, but managed to squash the reaction, nodded once, and jerked his head toward the door. "Let's go, then."

"Wait," said the captain, and a guard blocked the doorway. Jack froze. "How can I be sure you're who you say you are?" he asked Jack suspiciously.

"You can't," piped up the Doctor, "because I've got his papers." He dug in his pocket for the psychic paper, giggling maniacally. Jack groaned inwardly, thinking, _now he's going to play the part of the madman to the hilt. Wonderful_. The Doctor held the wallet holding the paper high, waving it around and continuing to giggle, "I've got his papers, I've got his papers," he said in a high sing-song voice.

The captain looked carefully at the Doctor, then turned to Jack. "Is he dangerous?" he asked, jerking his head at the Doctor.

_Only to himself, once River gets ahold of him,_ Jack thought, but shrugged as best he could while holding River. "Not really," he said offhandedly, "just annoying."

The captain looked unconvinced. "Just the same," he said slowly, "I'm sending one of my men with you to this special carriage of yours." He looked Jack up and down with open contempt, "because frankly, I don't think you can handle the both of them by yourself." Jack nodded resignedly as the captain directed one of his men to take the Doctor's arm, and then they left the guard house and started toward the edge of the wood.

"You know," said the Doctor in a confiding tone to the man holding him by one arm, "the carriage is _very _special. Yes, very special indeed." He nodded owlishly at the man, who was walking as far away as he could without releasing the Doctor's elbow. "It locks you up and the only place they can let you out is Bedlam," he continued, and then turned to stand in front of his captor and began to sing, walking backward. Jack disguised laughter as a cough; he hadn't known the Doctor knew the lyrics and the tune to _Tom O'Bedlam_. And he had a surprisingly good singing voice as well, a nice clear baritone.

By the time the little party arrived at the edge of the forest, the guard was completely unnerved, and only too happy to avoid the "special carriage" entirely. Jack was fairly sure that had been the Doctor's point, and made a show of thanking the young guardsman profusely for taking care of his patients. When he waxed lyrical for the fourth time about how wonderful the guards had been, the young man fled, and the smile drained off Jack's face as the Doctor unlocked the TARDIS doors. He wordlessly deposited River into the Doctor's arms and they went inside, heading to the medical bay, where the Doctor laid River gently on the exam table and began to fuss with assorted controls and mutter to himself, pausing every so often to kiss the bruise on River's temple. Jack swallowed the lump that appeared in his throat at the sight; they were so... so _tender_ with each other, even at their sexiest, and it was beautiful to see.

Jack watched and worried. He cleared his throat. "Can I help?" he asked. The Doctor waved one hand at him distractedly and grunted noncommittally. Jack sighed; he was fretting too, but the Doctor was nearly frantic and couldn't spare the energy to be courteous. "Right," he said, "I'll go find out where the TARDIS has put the kitchen, make you some fish fingers and custard, okay?" and was rewarded by a quick smile and a mumbled thanks. Good enough.

When he came back with the food - he'd brought vanilla and lemon - he saw to his relief that River was awake and sitting up, though she looked pale and a bit unfocused. He winced sympathetically, but put on his cheerful face. "Gave us a bit of a scare, Mrs Doctor River Song," he said teasingly, "but no permanent harm done, I trust?" She smiled weakly at him. "And you, Doctor, have some fish fingers and custard? They're not bad," he said, munching on one. The Doctor looked anxiously at River, and she smiled at him.

"Go, my love," she said, "talk to Sexy. That will make you feel better. Jack will look after me, won't you, Jack?"

Jack nodded, handed the Doctor the platter of snacks on his way over to the exam table, and swallowed the fish fingers. The Doctor left the room and Jack sat by the table. "Fish finger?" he asked River, and she shuddered slightly. He laughed, then sobered. "You really did have us worried, River. When will you remember that you're an _archaeologist_, not an _anthropologist_? DId you _have_ to come to the here and now to investigate?"

She shook her head, and winced at the pain. "I had to; I couldn't do the research from my cell in Stormcage, or from Earth in any later century." She looked up at him, green eyes swimming with tears. "But I saw... I saw... dammit, I can't _remember _what I saw, Jack, but it scared me. Badly enough that I forgot myself and told the guardsmen that they were under attack, because I truly believed they _were_, and..." her words were coming faster now, heading toward hysteria, and he took her hand, stroking it gently until she calmed a bit. "I don't know what it was, Jack, but whatever I saw, it terrified me."

She looked utterly woebegone, not a usual expression on her face, and Jack kissed her lightly on the lips. "It's alright, River, the Doctor and I will look after you until we can figure this out, and then you'll be back to your usual self-"

"Right," said the Doctor from the doorway, "and I know just who to go to for help. Sexy's very helpful that way... River, do you remember Evie? From Luna University?"

River nodded, her face lighting up, "Of course I do," she said, "and she already knows some of the history, and... Jack?" She turned her attention to him. "Jack, you're hurting my hand," she said sharply, tugging on it. "Are you alright?" she asked with concern as he let go of the maltreated hand.

Jack nodded, but his eyes were distant, and his apology for squeezing her hand too tightly was perfunctory at best. He looked at the Doctor. "Evie?" he said, his voice strange, "Short curvy redheaded psychiatry student? At Luna University in the 5120s?" The Doctor nodded, a half-smile ghosting about his lips. He'd _thought _Jack had known Evie, but he had almost forgotten...

_New guy," Evie had said, "goes by Boe, 'cause he's from the Boeshane peninsula on some colony that got wiped out last century, and they brought him here..._

"I loved her," Jack said simply, and smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

"I loved her," Jack said simply, and smiled.

_I loved her_ didn't begin to cover how he had felt about Evie. He had been nineteen, new at Luna, new in the fifty-second century, grieving the loss of his father and brother years before and his mother more recently. And Evie... she'd been _perfect_. Sweet and kind and if she'd practised her Sex Therapy class work on him, soothing his troubled soul through lovemaking, well... he didn't care. Not then and not now.

"Jack... Jack!"

Jack emerged from his reverie and looked around to see his friends grinning at him. "Sorry... I was just..." he trailed off.

"Just thinking of an old love?" asked River softly, wiping the last of the strange marks from her face with a soft cloth, and dangling her legs off the edge of the table.

"Yeah," said Jack on a sigh, "My first love..."

"Surely not, Jack; you must have had others before her." River sounded amused.

"I'd had other bed partners, River, but Evie was my first _lover_," Jack said seriously, "You remind me of her, actually, that... generosity of spirit you share..."

And strangely, River looked... was it _hurt_? Her eyes filled with tears again and her lower lip quivered. "I wouldn't have thought you'd be so cruel as to tease me like that, Jack," she said almost inaudibly, wringing the cloth between her hands, "I'm nothing_ like_ as generous as Evie..."

"Oh, but you_ are,_" Jack said, taking both her hands in his to stop the nervous motion, blue eyes very serious. "The difference is that Evie is generous with everyone, and you only show your... your _self._.. to the small group of people you can trust." River's tear-filled green eyes grew wide as she looked into Jack's face and then at the Doctor, who nodded earnestly in agreement. "And River?" Jack said gently, "I am _honored_ to be part of that small group."

And then, together, they held River as she wept.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"I'm worried about her, Jack," murmured the Doctor, his ageless hazel eyes meeting Jack's kind blue ones over River's sleeping form on the sofa near the exam table. "This isn't usual for her, she used to have nightmares but we fixed that and this... this humany weepiness... it's just not _like_ her." He bent his head to kiss River gently on the temple, over the angry bruise. "You're a human... well, as much as she is anyway... d'you think there's something _wrong_ with her, is she ill or more injured than Sexy and I thought, or...?" He trailed off, and Jack smiled at him.

"Doctor," he said gently, "she's been terrified somehow and she probably has concussion. Even Time Lords are vulnerable to bumps on the head. I suspect that if she were fully human she'd still be unconscious... and isn't that why you're going to find Evie? So she can help?"

The Doctor stood up and began to pace nervously. "Are you not coming with us to ask Evie for help, Jack?" he asked, his quiet voice belied by restless gangly limbs, "I had hoped you would, because, well... I don't really know why, I just feel like you should be there, and..."

"Maybe Sexy told you I should. Will. Have. Whatever," suggested Jack, smiling at him and catching his hand to pull him back down onto the sofa, "She usually seems to know where _you_ are needed, maybe she thinks _I'm_ needed for this one. I'll come if you need me."

The Doctor nodded seriously, saying, "Or maybe she thinks _you_ need Evie as much as River does. She loves you, Jack, our Old Girl, as much as she does anyone who's not me, and she's not above - blimey, she _glories_ in - manipulating those she loves into what she thinks is best." He grinned suddenly. "That'd be new, one - _two_ - of my friends being Sexy's focus, and me just along for the ride!" He beamed at Jack, turning the smile to River as she stirred. "And now you're awake too, my River. Let's go see Evie..."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Evie sat alone in her sitting room; since she made professor she'd rated a suite. It had been a long day, lots of patients in the student clinic because of a cave-in at the mines in the northwest, and she was tired. Her favourite date had taken his first group of trainee time agents on a field trip - he'd been gone for several days - and she didn't really feel like searching out another partner or two at this time of night. If someone - or two - sought _her_ out it would be a different story, but right now all she wanted was a hot bath with scent in, and maybe a glass of wine. She sighed and stretched and then headed toward the bath, lighting a single candle in a scent matching the one she put in the water. _Oh, bless,_ she thought as she lowered herself into the steaming liquid, _I'm even more tired than I thought. Best skip the wine. That one poor man who saw his mates fall through the surface of the mine..._ She shuddered, suddenly chilled at the memory in spite of the hot water. His _mind..._ well, her psychic skills were coming along nicely, thank you, but using her considerable empathy and minor psychic ability _deliberately_... it drained her.

Evie was drowsing in the water when a strange whooshing sound in the next room impinged itself upon her consciousness. She sighed and got out of the tub... best see what was going on; maybe someone needed her. She wrapped herself in a pale green dressing gown and, without bothering to turn on the lights, left the bathroom. "Hello?" she said into the dimly lit room, "is anyone there?"

"It's me, Evie," said Jack heavily, knowing she would hear his voice and think of him as Boe, and fretting over how she might react once she found out the truth. _But River needs her help_... "It's me." And then he was overbalanced by a warm and damp lapful of Evie, who had flung her arms around him and knocked the both of them onto the bed. "Evie..." he groaned into her hair, "Wait, sweetheart, I..." She was snuggling closer, and he knew this had to stop _now_, she had to _know_, before they... "Oh god, Evie, I've missed you," he murmured, and clung to her for an endless moment before he pulled away and turned on her bedside lamp.

She was laughing, saying, "Why Boe, that's sweet, but it's only been a few days-" when the light came on and she got a good look at him and stopped, abruptly.

"Not for me," he whispered miserably, "It's been a lot longer than that."

Evie stared wide-eyed at him from across the expanse of the bed, and gulped audibly once. "So I see," she said finally, "Those field trips for Time Agent classes don't fool around, huh?" She smiled at him. "Were you so worried that I'd take one look at you and run screaming?" He nodded cautiously and she laughed. "You're not precisely hideous, you know, even several years older," she said teasingly, and launched herself at him again. "I've missed you too," she murmured against his mouth, "and for me it only _has_ been a few days. No-one quite like you, Boe..." and she nipped his lower lip gently with her teeth, then soothed it with her tongue. "Mmmm... you smell the same..." She dropped little kisses up his jaw to his ear. "And sound the same..." She nibbled on his earlobe and he gasped. "And feel the same..." and her small warm hands wandered down his body.

Jack grabbed her hands and pushed away to look at her. Evie stopped teasing immediately; this was not normal behavior for him. She started to apologise and he kissed her very gently - the kiss was almost chaste - and she snapped her mouth shut. "Evie, I want you. _So much._ Oh god, so much... but first I need you to listen, because... well, because I don't want... this..." he waved his hands to indicate them, the bed, the room, "under false pretenses. OK?" She nodded, not sure what he was on about, but willing to listen. "Let me know if I go too fast for you." She chuckled at a sudden memory. "What?"

"Just remembering something, Boe," she said, wondering why he winced at the name. "I had a friend down the hall when I was still a student, and I spent a lot of time with her when she was having nightmares, before I came back for psychic training." He was watching her carefully, expressionless now, and she wondered at that too, but decided he would tell her in his own time, and continued, "Anyway, her doctor - an old family friend she said, but I think there was a lot more to it than _that_ - he came to visit back then. And just now, you sounded just like him... those were his exact words..." She trailed off, her breath coming faster, as he reached out and traced her lips with one finger. Her eyes fluttered shut but then she caught herself and grasped his wrist. "My turn to stop you," she gasped, "you have a story to tell me? About not going too fast for me?"

He took a deep breath. "Okay, they need your help, and they told me what they shared with you back then..." He shook his head at her confused look. "Backwards," he muttered to himself, "let's try that again. Right," he said in a more normal tone, "That friend of yours, River Song, she's a friend of mine too. I've known the Doctor for... oh, for _years_ now... and River for somewhat less time." He paused, watching Evie as she nodded thoughtfully. "So, they said you know that the Doctor is a Time Lord..."

Evie nodded soberly. "The last of them, except that River is part Time Lady," she said, chuckling again at the bemused expression on his face, "but what could they need from _me_? And why would they send you instead of coming themselves?" She looked a bit crestfallen. "Did they think I wouldn't help if they asked me?"

"They're here," he said, "but they wanted me to..." he frowned in thought, then smiled at her. "I'm guessing they wanted you and I to have a little time alone together before they started asking for help. You see, River... she's having nightmares again" He paused as she made a concerned sound low in her throat, and patted her hand, then continued, "or _something_, something that terrifies her, but she can't remember what it is. She's OK for now, the Doctor is with her, but well-"

"-But a psychiatrist who won't think her delusional because of her time-traveling experiences, that means me?" Evie interrupted, smiling at him. He nodded.

"And one she _trusts_, Evie. There are a handful people in the universe she trusts, and you and I are both fortunate enough to be in that tiny group. I don't know what you've heard about her since she left Luna, but-"

"-I've heard a lot of rumors, none of which I believe," Evie cut him off with some asperity, "I've seen how she looked at him. Of _course_ she didn't kill him, that's rubbish." She looked outraged at the very thought, and Jack grinned at her. He needn't have worried about Evie's reactions; she was a trouper. "Now," she continued, "let's see if I've got this straight. One, River is having nightmares or otherwise being terrified." Jack nodded, and Evie held up two fingers. "Two, River is suspected of killing the Doctor, which we know is rubbish, because not only are they hopelessly besotted with each other, he's here with her?"

Jack nodded again. "Actually, she's been_ convicted _of murdering the Doctor but... well, even Stormcage isn't much proof against a determined man with a time machine and a sonic screwdriver." He grinned at her again and she smiled back, then held up that third finger.

"Three, River can trust me to not write her off as a crazy escaped convict and and knows I will actually try to _help_ her," Evie said, and Jack took a close look at her face. _She looks... sad? Upset? Maybe just concerned,_ Jack thought, and pulled her to him.

"She trusts you, full stop," he said, and was rewarded by a sweet smile and a quick kiss, "And four, Jack - that's me, these days - Jack needs you as much as River does... but in a slightly different fashion."

"Jack?" she asked, reaching up to stroke his jaw with her fingertips.

"Jack," he confirmed, and kissed her.


	3. Chapter 3

Evie parted her lips under his and breathed his name - _Jack _- and he thought fleetingly that he was really, _really _glad they were already sitting on the bed, because his knees went weak at the sound. "_Evie_... so sweet, I..." he trailed off into an inarticulate moan as she nibbled at his mouth, licking at his tongue with her own.

"Jack..." Evie liked the way it sounded, harder and more adult than "Boe". She murmured it against his mouth, and pushed him gently onto his back across her bed, shifting onto her knees and pulling open the tie at the front of her dressing gown. He watched her disrobe, his lips parted, blue eyes hot and dark with _wanting _and _oh bless, _she thought,_ if he keeps looking at me like that we may be done before we start... _Evie dropped the dressing gown on the floor and swung one leg over Jack's. He whispered her name, never taking his eyes off her, and reached for her. She let him draw her down to lie along the length of his body, and lowered her head to kiss him again.

Jack put his hands up and curled them around to stroke the nape of Evie's neck, and watched her bring her lips to his. As they deepened the kiss, one hand wandered into her short crop of ginger hair, and the other began to drift down her spine with little feathery touches that made her arch her body into his. When she whimpered against his mouth, he rolled so that she lay on her back across the bed. _So beautiful, _he thought as he looked at her, _so lovely_. "Evie," he said softly, "let me love you for awhile." She nodded, and Jack took her face between his hands and searched her eyes, then kissed her gently on the lips. "Beautiful, lovely, amazing Evie," he murmured, and slid one hand with aching slowness down the slope of her throat to her breast, while his lips mirrored the action on the other side. She sighed as he nibbled and caressed her sensitive skin, and he slowly, _slowly _moved down her body. "_Evie_... missed you..." he groaned against the soft skin at her navel, and she thought she'd come right then, just from the vibration of his voice buzzing through her whole body. She moaned and arched her back into his questing mouth and hands, and as he moved lower still, she shattered under his touch.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

The Doctor was pacing in his TARDIS, around and around the console, while River sat in the jump seat. "What could possibly be taking them so long, River?" he almost shouted at her as he passed. She smiled at him, waiting for him to come around again, and she grabbed his hand. He stopped short. "River," he whinged, "what if she doesn't believe him? What if she thinks you really did kill me? What if-" He broke off as she tugged him down to her face and kissed him on the lips.

"Sweetie, they haven't seen each other in _years_ by his perspective, maybe centuries. It's only been a week or so from hers, but she's - as Jack said - a very _generous_ person. I'm sure they have extensive... catching up to do." River laughed softly. "And as they are both excellent kissers," her eyes went distant with pleasant memory for a moment, "I suspect I know what form that catching up will take." She flashed the Doctor a wicked little grin. "Would _you _like to catch up, my love? It's been a couple days since we danced, for instance." She leered suggestively at him, and kissed him again.

"River," he began reprovingly, and then she saw realisation dawn and he shot her _that_ look - the hot-when-he's-clever look - and she shivered in delicious anticipation. "I would be delighted to dance with you, River Song, Melody Pond, my wife." He stood and held out a hand to her, and she accepted it and let him draw her up to him.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

When Evie came back to herself, she found that there were tears on her cheeks, and a concerned look in Jack's blue eyes. "Did I hurt you, sweetheart?" She shook her head, smiling at him through the tears. "Then what is it?" He brushed a tear away with his thumb, looking down at her wet eyes and trying not to cry himself. To think that he might have hurt her somehow...

"When I first met your Doctor," Evie said, "the reason I trusted him immediately was the way he looked at River... like she was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen..." Her voice trailed off, and then strengthened again, "And just now, _you_ looked at _me_ that way, as though you weren't thinking about anything else in that moment, only of me, and I... I..."

Jack stroked her jaw gently with his thumb, his blue eyes very serious, and his voice cracked, "Evie, in that moment, there _was _only you..." He leaned down and kissed her very gently, and shook his head, a tear dropping to mingle with hers. "And I am so sorry, sweet dear Evie, so very sorry that Boe - that _I_ - never told you that."

Her smile was brilliant behind the tears, "Boe was young, Jack," she said softly, and reached up to bring his face down to hers. "And he needed me more than I needed him. But _you_..." she whispered against his mouth, and her lips trembled under his. He traced her lips with his tongue and she shivered and moaned his name. "Jack..." As his mouth slanted over hers and their tongues entwined, her hands slid carefully down from around his neck to slide the braces off his shoulders, and then traveled back up his collar to start on his buttons. He groaned her name as her fingertips flicked his nipples through the blue fabric of his shirt, and rolled them over again so he was lying underneath her. She struggled with the top button on his shirt and, frustrated, he took hold and _pulled_, popping buttons off in all directions, and then sat up long enough to remove the shirt and his vest.

When Jack lay back down, Evie pounced. Her mouth went to his chest to nip and then soothe with her tongue, to suck on his skin and leave little love bites. Her hands began to work on his belt buckle, brushing teasingly against him and making him moan. She worked the buckle open along with his trouser zip and pushed the trousers down off his hips. "Never did learn to wear anything under your trousers, I see?" she inquired as she planted little kisses down the planes of his stomach, and slid the trousers down his legs and off the bed. His breath caught as she slowly slid back up his legs, using her whole body to stroke his. "Mmmm..." she hummed approvingly, "I always did like that about you." She brushed along his erection on her way back up his body and he moaned again, hips canting upward, seeking more contact. "Shh..." she soothed, "Don't worry, sweet Jack, I'll take care of you." And she caressed his erection with one hand, and plunged the other into his hair, using it to guide his mouth to her breasts. "Come for me, Jack," she whispered, and she stroked him harder and faster, "Now, _please_..."

Jack moaned her name, arching into her hands, but shook his head gently, letting her nipple pop out of his mouth. He licked his way leisurely up her chest and throat to her mouth, and whispered against her lips, "I'll come for you, beautiful Evie, but I'm taking you with me," and he lifted her small form by the hips and settled her on and around him. She cried out in pleasure as he filled her and his thumb moved from her hip to caress the sensitive skin where their bodies met, and all he could think was_ there, yes, please, Evie, so... oh god... Evie, please, NOW_. Jack cried out his own pleasure as she came around him, and their loving slowly shuddered to a stop, Evie collapsing on top of him in a boneless heap of pleasure and murmurs and pounding hearts.

And finally they slept.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"You know, my love, for a Lord of Time, you're a very impatient man," River Song informed her husband. She took his hands in hers and pulled him around to look her in the face. "Sweetie, look at me. I know you're worried about me." He pouted a bit and she kissed the protruding lower lip. "Truly, my love, I'm safe here with you. I can wait. _We_ can wait. It's only a few hours. And if Evie really thought I needed her right away, she wouldn't let _anyone_ - not even Jack - keep her from her patient." She kissed him again, and this time he relaxed into the kiss, returning it enthusiastically.

There was a knock three feet to the left of the outside doors, but the Doctor and River ignored it until the door opened and the two humans entered the TARDIS. "Oi!" protested the Doctor, "busy here," and he went back to kissing River, who giggled and pulled back.

"Silly man," she said affectionately, "three minutes ago you were fretting because they weren't back yet." She turned to Evie and Jack and held out her arms. "Evie, I have _missed_ you!" she cried, and Evie ran up the ramp and embraced her, the two women hugging and crying and babbling endearments at each other as the men watched with a certain perplexity.

Jack shrugged at the Doctor, who raised his eyebrows in response and edged toward him. "Is this normal human behavior, Jack?" he muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"It's normal female human behavior, Doctor," Jack said with a grin, "and it's lovely to watch," and he indicated the two women with his chin. Their hugs hand turned into frantic snogging, of which Jack heartily approved.

The Doctor looked at the women, raised his eyebrows again, and said, "Yes, right, well... ladies, as lovely as this is to watch - again - I'm afraid I have to point out - _again_ - that we're here for a different reason." They ignored him and kept kissing, and he walked over and tapped River on the shoulder.

River pulled away from the smaller woman. "Oh, I suppose so. Right! How do we start?" She looked expectantly toward the Doctor and then at Evie.

But neither the Doctor nor the psychiatrist - nor the Captain - answered her question. Instead, one of the screens on the TARDIS' main console swung out over Evie's head to a position where all four of them could see it. On it was a grainy black-and-white picture of what looked like the surface of Earth's moon, complete with Apollo 11 module, and the Doctor knew - just _knew_ - what would happen next. "...one small step for man..._youshouldkillusallonsight_... one giant leap for mankind." Jack and Evie both looked appalled, but Jack had automatically gone into a battle-ready stance, and Evie's soft and sweet face was set with determination.

And the Doctor caught River as she fainted dead away.


	4. Chapter 4

"What," asked Jack in a dangerously soft voice, "the hell was _that_?" His fists were clenched as he stared at the screen. He made a conscious effort to relax them - although a muscle jumped in his cheek as he ground his teeth - and he nearly growled as he said, "And why did River - _River Song _of all people - collapse at the mere sight of it?" He helped the Doctor move River's unconscious form to the jump seat and turned to Evie, his voice still soft, but gentler now, calmer, as though he had forgotten why he was angry and was therefore able to control his reaction. "You okay, Evie?" he asked solicitously, and she smiled up at him.

"Oh yes, Jack, I'm fine. I've a patient to look after though," and she kissed him quickly but thoroughly and turned to the Doctor. "I know she's not entirely human; is there anything special I need to do?"

He shook his head. "The TARDIS and I will provide a link. Please... just help her-"

"Oh _hell _no," Jack interrupted, "Look, Doc, I love River, and I trust you, but I _will not allow_ Evie to sacrifice herself for River!" The Doctor stared at him, mouth agape, and Jack shook his head in frustration, because clearly the Time Lord hadn't thought it through. "Doctor, the human mind isn't built to handle eleven dimensions, remember?" He was shouting now, out of control. "The last time the TARDIS connected with a human being it _killed me_! And I won't let you do that to _my_..." He trailed off, finally realising what he was saying, and that Evie was there listening, when she put a gentle hand on his arm. "Oh god, Evie, I'm sorry. I didn't... I..."

"He didn't tell you..." the Doctor said quietly to Evie, his eyes sad, "He didn't tell you... but you noticed he was older?"

She nodded. "Of course. But he is - or was - a Time Agent, so I assumed he'd just ah... been out longer than the week he was meant to." She glanced at Jack, who was trying to look normal, and then back at the Doctor. "She wouldn't hurt me, would she?" He shook his head.

"When... when she killed Jack, it was an accident - shut up, Jack, I'm not done talking - but she was ill and we were rebuilding her and it wasn't her _fault_." He turned to face Jack. "Jack, Sexy is in _complete control_ of herself now. _She loves you_. She likes Evie. She _knows_ how much you and River both need Evie and she would never jeopardise that. _Please _trust her. Please?"

"Can Evie and I have a minute alone first? I... didn't tell her all of it, she needs to know, before..." Jack's voice caught.

The Doctor reined in his own impatience; it was a complication but best to ride it out. It would likely be only a few minutes. "Of course. To the Old Girl time's all of a piece anyway."

Jack took Evie by the elbow and guided her off to one side. "Evie, I... I... oh _hell,_" he muttered, "You've got psychic training. Can I _show_ you?" He was near tears and it hurt her to see him like this, but he clearly needed to confess how it was the TARDIS had killed him but he was still alive, so she nodded.

"Of course," she said calmly,"but if you fight me, I'll have less strength for River. Please don't fight me, Jack." She drew him down to the sofa nearby and put her fingertips to his temples. "Close your eyes, love, and just visualize -_ remember _- what you need me to see." She followed her own advice and her eyes fluttered shut as she relaxed into the link.

_Flashes... the beach and a boy and a man and a woman and fire and running and nonononono, don't let go, I'm sorry so sorry please... the Face of Boe, and _here_ and _Evie_, lovinggentle Evie... and then a man, a partner, a time agent, didn't mean to hurt you, they took my memory, alone so alone... explosions and gas masks and a girl, a pretty blonde and, and the Doctor, a ship who loves, a bad wolf and a metal cylinder but it's alive and nonononono, please don't! Thought I was dead. Alone. Alone, so long alone out in the cold and the dark... Wales on Earth, in the 19th, the 20th... want to die, _can't _die and _so alone_...a new name, a dance with a stranger, a kiss, the 21st, a different Doctor saying "You're _wrong_, Jack" Sexy hates me and the Year The Never Was and a pretty black girl, and the pain and the dying over and over again but never able to just _die_... and Gray and Adam and John, and oh _Owen_, _Tosh_, so very sorry, and kindtough Gwen and brokenlovely Ianto, and the cylinders again, the Doctor and the TARDIS , the blonde again and the black girl again and a ginger woman and a beautiful older lady... and happilyeverafter..._

Evie took a deep breath and broke the contact gently. "Jack." Her voice was soft. "Jack, I'm so sorry." She took his chin between her fingers and turned him to face her. His eyes looked so... he looked so _broken_. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to _want_ to die and be unable to. And if her math was right, he was at _least_ a couple hundred years old and still looked thirty... "We can stop now if you want."

"That's not all of it, Evie." Jack's voice was hoarse with suppressed tears. "I... can I show you the rest?" She nodded, but he could see that the notion distressed her. "Are you sure? I don't want you hurt, Evie, I..." he trailed off as she kissed him gently.

"Jack, I'm not as fragile as you think. I'll be fine. Show me." And she put her fingers to his temples again and closed her eyes.

_Numbers, four and five and six and horror, the children, oh god the _children_, Ianto, so very sorry my sweet Ianto, _please _don't leave me alone, and Steven, oh god, I _had _to do it, didn't I? A flash of River's face and "__you were forced into that__"... and a woman so angry I killed her only child, my _grand_son, I... and a glimpse of the Doctor across a crowded bar, and sweetinnocent Alonso... and Alonso is gone, no horror but no less tragedy, just _gone_ and I'm alone... back to the bar but no it's the Blitz and the Doctor, _another _Doctor, younger and older, and his wife, his beautiful River Song... and the TARDIS, the Sexy Thing, she's ill but she loves me again, _they_ love me but they leave me alone... and oh River, _no_, Doctor, so _so_ sorry, the TARDIS revives and I _die, _but I _can't _so I live... and River fighting some _things_ and "__you were forced into that__" and finally, _finally_ loving, loving the Doctor and his River, and oh! _Not alone_, separate but _at last _part of the love and the trust... a keep and a rescue bedlamboysarebonny, and Evie... oh god, _Evie, _she'll hate me for what I've done oh god, sweetandstrong Evie, loving Evie..._

Evie broke the link, but left her fingers on Jack's temples. She had tears in her eyes as she looked into his. "Oh, _Jack_. Sweet Jack, of course I don't," she whispered, and kissed him. His return kiss was desperate and needy and _oh bless, now I have to put him aside,_ alone, _so I can help River,_ she thought frantically.

But then the Doctor was there, sitting on the other side of Jack and gathering the other man, shaking with reaction, into his arms. "I caught the edges of that," he said, rather apologetically, "because you're inside Sexy's field and _she_ heard it all. I've got him, Evie, you take care of River. Now you can do it without my help." He turned to Jack, murmuring reassurances into his ear. "She'll be fine, Jack, Sexy heard all that and she understands, she wouldn't hurt your Evie, she never would, it's all right..." but the bulk of his attention was on Evie.

Evie put one hand flat against the TARDIS console. The headache wasn't quite as bad as it had been before, and as she assumed that was because now she had some training, she felt a wave of agreement and she gasped. She saw Jack jolt away from the Doctor and held out her other hand to stop him. "No. It's all right, I was just... surprised," she said, and closed her eyes. Maybe if there was less input from outside...

_(regret, affection blue-and-brown-boy)_

"Jack, she... she loves you, she's sorry she hurt you..." Evie squeezed her eyes shut tighter.

_(love my child, my doctor, blue-and-brown-boy affection another orange girl)_

"Okay, she says she loves River and her Doctor, and Jack and maybe... _me_? Is that me?" Evie demanded of the TARDIS, and felt a wash of agreement and affection and regret about Jack and reassurance in return. "I _think_," Evie said doubtfully, opening her eyes and looking at the men, "that she loves the three of you, and she's sorry for hurting Jack but she wants him to know that she won't hurt me because she loves him and he loves..." her voice broke for a second, then steadied, "...he loves me..." She shook her head. "Right," she said, addressing the console, "can you show me how to help River now?" Evie nodded once and shut her eyes again. "But it's so simple," she finally said, "Is that really all there is to it?" She paused. "Right, then." She let go of the console and walked to the sofa, kissing each of the men briefly but firmly in turn and then squirming so she sat between them. Jack looked relieved, and the Doctor bemused, and she smiled at them.

"Doctor," Evie said, "River will be _fine_. From what your Sexy told me, you enabled River to fight her own demons the last time you were here." She took his large hand between her tiny ones, never taking her blue eyes off his hazel. "It was _absolutely_ the right thing to do," she said, and he relaxed muscles he hadn't realised were tense at the words, "but it was temporary... it delayed this breakdown for a few years but did not fix the problem permanently. And when she saw one of those..." she shuddered lightly, and her hands tightened convulsively on his, "...one of those _things_, a Silent, in a time when her subconscious knew the human race had not yet been programmed to kill them on sight, well... the barriers you helped her put up, they broke down. I can help her put them back up, stronger this time because my psychic ability is trained rather than instinctive. OK?" He nodded, and kissed her briefly but thoroughly, and she felt a huge gratitude for her personally and an affection that expanded to cover most of her species, and an amused knowledge in the background that said _told you I'm not a prude, _and she broke the kiss, laughing, and turned to Jack.

Evie took Jack's face between her hands and kissed him hard on the lips, trying to show him without words how she felt, but he pulled away. "Evie..." he began, "if you want nothing more to do with me, I'd-"

"Oh, shut _up_, Jack," Evie interrupted, "and_ listen_ to me, because I'm going to lecture like the professor I am. You _have _done some horrible things, it's true, and you have had some terrible things done _to _you as well," Her blue eyes looked deep into his, willing him to _listen_, not just to _hear_ what she had to say. "Now, in the 21st century, the average human lifespan was about eighty years, and in the 51st, the average was close to twice that. In that length of time - call it 150 earth years - nearly _everyone_ has done something truly awful to another human being, or a planet, or a pet, or _whatever_. If they don't feel remorse for it, we declare them ill and send them to me." She smiled at him, a bit sadly, "Jack... I can't speak for non-humans, because they don't think like we do - sorry Doctor - but the human brain isn't made to handle centuries of life any more than it is eleven dimensions of time and space. And I think that it's a miracle that you are still _functional_, much less sane - and you_ are _sane, in my expert opinion - after all you have experienced." Her voice dropped to a murmur, "And _oh_, sweet, dear Jack, I _know _you've been told this by others, and I know that you understand it but can't really believe it, but please... _please_ believe me when I say that you are not a terrible person. Please..." She had tears in her eyes again, and Jack _wanted _to believe her, but... and then Evie slid her hands up to his temples and kissed him on the lips, and he _saw_ - she _showed _him - that she knew _everything_, all the horrible things... and yet she believed that there, underneath all the awfulness, he was basically a good person. _She believed in him._

This realisation was too deep for tears, so he took a deep, shuddering breath, and said simply, "All right, what can I do to help you with River?"


	5. Chapter 5

"All right, what can I do to help you with River?" Jack asked. He looked worried, Evie thought, but she couldn't tell whether he was still concerned about her, or whether he was afraid he couldn't help. She put a consoling hand on his and squeezed. She mustn't let him see how scared she was.

"I could use some moral support, Jack," she said, simply, "I don't know how much of this you'll be able to sense, but River will have the Doctor and Sexy supporting her, and I would love it if you'd support me." She smiled at both men. _Bless,_ she thought, _at least I've practise in keeping my own feelings out of it._ "Doctor, where can I find something more comfortable for her than that jump seat? A bed, maybe?"

"Of course!" the Doctor said, springing to his feet, "Right, now, would you like a bunk bed? Bunk beds are cool! Oh, wait, never mind, that's rubbish, the Pond girls never did like bunk beds, I'll find something cool!" and he dashed off through a doorway. Evie blinked.

"Jack? Is that... whiplash... normal for him? Going from brooding and fretting to manic in a blink of an eye like that?"

Jack was laughing at the expression on her face. "Remember just a few minutes ago," he asked, "when you said non-humans think differently than we do? That," he nodded at the doorway, "was a prime example. He's grateful that you'll help River, and more than relieved that he didn't hurt her by putting those barriers up, and... and possibly still a bit guilty for leaving me alone in the first place, so long ago... I didn't mean to remind him of that..." and now _Jack_ felt a bit guilty, even though he had long since realised that the Doctor and the Bad Wolf in Rose hadn't known he was alive when they left the GameStation. He sighed, "in any case, when he has emotions he can't analyze or control in the moment, he tends to either go off and brood - which is usually disastrous - or to do what you just saw, cover them up with babbling and manic behavior." He smiled at Evie, who looked bemused at this analysis, and kissed her exuberantly. "I've loved him for a long time, Evie, and this is the third regeneration of him I've known... trust me when I say I have a good idea of how he'll react."

Evie nodded. "Of course I trust you, Jack. With everything. Now..."she looked up at him, an impish grin on her face, "before I go to work, can I count on you to give me some of that moral support you promised me?" She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, toppling him over so he lay under her on the sofa. "Mmm - so supportive already..." she murmured as his arms automatically went to her hips, and then she kissed him.

A few minutes later the Doctor bounced back into the console room and glanced at the couple on the sofa. _Fifty-somethingth-century humans_, he thought with amusement, _it's a wonder they get _anything _else done_. He gently picked up his unconscious wife from the jump seat and took her through the doorway.

Evie raised her head, lips swollen and eyes heavy, murmuring, "D'you hear something?" and at Jack's negative headshake, she shrugged and fastened her lips to his throat.

The next time the Doctor entered the console room, he was a little less amused. This had gone on long enough really, and he'd thought Evie would be more concerned about her patient than this. "Are you two ready to help _River _yet?" he inquired, a bit acidly, and was surprised at how rapidly Evie changed gears.

"Of course," she said cheerfully, sitting up. "Just waiting for you to settle her. Lead the way." She got up off the sofa and held out a hand to pull Jack up. The incongruity of sweet, soft, _tiny _Evie hauling a man the size of Jack Harkness to his feet banished the last of the Doctor's irritation with them, and he grinned and held out a hand to each of them. They accepted and stepped through the doorway into the room he'd prepared. And Evie stared around her in wonder while Jack began to laugh.

"Doctor, _really_? Did you steal the room or just recreate it?" Jack said, chortling.

"What?" the Doctor retorted, defensively, "She was comfortable there! And it was the first... well, the place where we... the place where I helped her put up those barriers the first time!" He pouted a bit. "And Sexy helped; she had a better record of the space than I did!" The Doctor looked at the two of them defiantly, and Evie tried not to giggle. _How does he look so young and so fierce and so ageless at the same time?_ she wondered. She squeezed the Doctor's hand.

"It's lovely," she said softly, "and thank you for ensuring my comfort as well." She sat in the chair he had placed by the bed and took River's hand in hers. "Doctor, would you hold her other hand, please? And Jack..." she looked up at him and he bent down to kiss her. "Thank you." She smiled at Jack, and tried not to show just how very frightened she really was. Oh, she knew that Sexy wouldn't _deliberately_ hurt her, but she had very little confidence in the TARDIS' ability to keep those extra dimensions out of her head... and the thought of losing her mind into the vortex was terrifying. But Jack _must not_ see that, or he would begin to worry again, and she just could not handle that right now; she had enough on her plate.

Evie took a deep breath and put her fingers to River's temples, careful not to press on the bruise still marring one. _Oh! The Silent - the Silence, all of them - and the lightning agony and the terror and the woman with the eyepatch and the bogeyman known as the Doctor._ Evie shuddered and vaguely felt Jack's warm hand on her shoulder; this was different from the memories inside Jack's head, as horrifying as some of them had been, they were_ natural_. These memories had been deliberately implanted in River, trying to make her into a weapon - a weapon against the Doctor, because of a... a prophecy? Yes... "On the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the eleventh, when no living creature can speak falsely or fail to answer, a Question will be asked, a question that must never, ever be answered." But... and then she was thrown into the _real _memories, the ones _around_ the artificial ones, the horrible ways in which they had been implanted.

Evie thought she might be sick; she had never experienced anything remotely like this, even second-hand, even with the most damaged of her patients. _Fighting and torture - a woman's cold voice saying "again, Melody, and do it _right _this time" - but she didn't, she _would not_, because (a flash of red hair) said he was _good_, just raggedy and forgetful, and then the lightning came flashing down on her again and again and _again_, and finally, finally she did it right, just to avoid the lightning agony and she was ashamed, ashamed of being so weak. But not so ashamed that she didn't do it right again the next time, to escape the tortuous lightning, because every time she did it right the pain was less. Until (image of a swastika), when she did it right for real. She kissed him ("Hello, Sweetie") and he was dying. Then the pain was _anguish_, he was _dying _and it was her fault, and she was changed, and he said... he said... __"Tell her I ...ve her..." _

_And then he _lived_, she kissed him ("Hello, Sweetie") and he lived, and oh bless, _he loved her_, and now Evie was no longer just _watching_ the scenes in River's head, she was sorting the memories, so they were one degree removed as though _River _was the one watching, not blocked, not removed... but smoother around the edges so River could bear them and so she would never... _ever_... break over those memories again._

River woke, her gasp echoing Evie's sobs, and Evie slumped into the chair even as River sat up in the bed. For a few minutes it was all chaos, River babbling assurances to Jack and the Doctor through her tears that she was alright, they were _both_ alright, truly they were, just exhausted and shocky and please, _please_ just let Evie and me sleep, it's all we need, really, sleep, _please_...

Eventually Jack was persuaded to settle Evie into bed next to River - he had to be reassured over and over by River and the Doctor and Sexy herself, complete with headache - and the Doctor dropped a gentle kiss on River's forehead before he left the room. "Jack," River said, smiling tiredly at him, "please just let us sleep. You can look in on us later. Please?" He made a noise like _hmmph_, but got up and left after kissing both women gently. And at last River could sleep too.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

When she woke, hours later, Jack was back, sitting by Evie's side of the bed, stroking her ginger hair gently out of her face, a clear expression of worry on his face. He noticed River was awake and spoke. "I love her, River," he said, but his voice broke and he took a deep breath to steady it.

"I know." River's voice was gentle.

"She's so... so fragile." There were still tears behind his voice, but River thought she'd better explain a few things to him before he started seeing Evie as a flawless weak little princess. Evie wouldn't like that at all.

"She's really not," River said, considerably less gently. "Jack, she's _not _weak."

"I didn't say that!" he cried, stung. "She's_ not_ weak; she's strong in her own way, River. Just because it's not _your_ kind of strength doesn't mean it's not there! It's just a... a soft and gentle strength and I..._ what?_" River was smirking at him. "Oh. Oh... shit, River, just how stupidly overprotective have I been for the past day or so?"

"Not too bad, considering the circumstances," River said, the smirk turning into a true smile, "but you might want to keep an eye on that tendency before it does become a problem." Her smile faltered as he put his head in his hands. "What is it, Jack?"

He raised his head. "What am I going to do? I love her. She won't come with me; she's needed here. And I can't stay here for the same reason." His voice broke again. "I don't think I can be alone again, River, I... it might break me this time." It had been hard for him to admit that, River could see that, and she smiled again, sitting up and leaning over Evie's sleeping form to kiss him.

"Captain Jack Harkness, you've forgotten one - no,_ two_ - very important things. One, you have friends with a time machine, and two... you have a friend who_ is _a time machine," River said with some exasperation. His blue eyes widened as he took in the possibilities. "Oh Jack," she said, her voice softening again, "Did you really think you'd have to do more than ask? That's what friends are for." She kissed him again, gently. "Now go, sweet Jack. I'll look after her."

After Jack left, River said into the air, "Sexy, dear, could you close the door, please? And let us know if the boys come back? Thank you." She waited until the door closed, and nudged the girl lying next to her in bed. "How much of that did you hear, love?"

Evie opened her eyes. "All of it." She sounded miserable. "River, you don't have to..."

"Evie," River said, rather sharply, "_stop it_. Even if I didn't owe you my sanity - no, don't interrupt me - even if I didn't owe you my sanity, you are one of the very few people I trust, and my beloved _knows_ that. And he loves Jack and he loves you, if only for my sake and Jack's; he doesn't show it much, but he _does_, so much. _So much_. And Evie, I..." She was crying now, and Evie lifted one hand weakly and put it to River's face, gently wiping away the tears.

And when the TARDIS pinged to let them know that the Doctor and Jack were coming back, they didn't stir, and the men found them entwined in healing sleep under the duvet of the bed in the duplicate of River's room at Luna University.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"I can't stay," Jack said brokenly, looking down at Evie with blue, blue eyes.

"And I can't go," she returned, looking up at him with blue, blue eyes.

"But you can visit," proclaimed River from the door of the TARDIS, looking at them both fondly, and then elbowed her husband, who looked affronted before he remembered his bit.

"Right," he said, and bounced once on his toes."We've a gift for each of you. I wasn't sure, because who knows what you'd get up to - not you of course, Evie, but Jack..." he tried his stern look on Jack, who shot him a _who, me?_ look back. "Well, Jack can't always be trusted-" he broke off as River elbowed him again. "Oi! Right, anyway, we've a gift - oh, already said that, didn't I, sometimes I get off track like th- all _right_, River, stop looking daggers at me! Anyway, we want you to have these." He handed them each a small packet, wrapped in Chanukah paper with little silver menorahs printed on it. "It's TARDIS blue, you see, because it's not just from us, it's from Sexy too." he said proudly as they began to unwrap the gifts.

"Oh!" Evie cried, "it's blank... no, wait... 'To Jack and Evie, in case you need a ride.' I don't understand."

"I do," said Jack, staring wide-eyed at the psychic paper, "and I..." he seemed momentarily at a loss for words, so he threw his arms around Evie, lifting her into the air. "I'll explain it to you," he murmured into her ear. When he began to nibble on the ear, carrying Evie toward her bedroom, River elbowed the Doctor again.

"Stop that-" he began, but then stopped and took another look. He leant toward River, looking a tiny bit alarmed as well as fascinated. "D'you think this is this a time when they need to be alone?"

And her rich laughter rang out as she dragged her husband into the blue box.


End file.
